“You become complacent, and credit to Swindon for trying to play the right way, but we deserved to win this game.

“I know how hard it is coming here and you’ve got to earn the right to win. It is not all glamour. It is a big win for us.”

At the final whistle Paulo Di Canio appeared to taunt Villa fans that their club was going down – but the Swindon boss claimed his hand gestures were simply intended as light-hearted banter.

He insisted: “No, that was not the case. I was saying to my fans that they had been brilliant and their support was so good that they were up there and Villa were below them. It was banter but it was not an insult.”

Chris Herd added to Villa’s injury worries by hobbling off with a knee problem after half-an-hour and he joins defenders Richard Dunne, Ciaran Clark and Nathan Baker on the sidelines.

Karim El Ahmadi will miss Saturday’s Premier League trip to Sunderland through suspension after picking up his fifth booking of the season but Joe Bennett will be eligible to play after serving a one-match ban yesterday evening.